Tyler Johnson

You would think that after signing a new seven-year, $35MM deal, that could cause some complacency for a hockey player. However, not for Tampa Bay Lightning’s Tyler Johnson. The 27-year-old wing is coming off a solid season in which he scored 19 goals and added 26 assists. But after signing a new deal this offseason, Johnson has dedicated himself to a better offseason regimen and plans to be ready for an even better season next year.

According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Johnson has changed everything from the way he eats to how he works out. He switched to a Keto diet, which is a high-fat, low carb regimen, such as more fish, meat and vegetables and less bread and pasta. In the gym, he is focused on strength training, which he hasn’t been able to do since he has broken his wrist twice over the past three years. Johnson hopes that both his training and eating adjustments should help him stay healthier this year after missing 13 games in 2015-16 and then another 16 last year.

He also hopes to take his game up a notch and help his team return to the playoffs, which is the first time he’s ever not been in the playoffs, including AHL and junior days. “Something I’d rather not do again,” added Johnson.

According to Ed Willes of The Province, Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations Trevor Linden has high expectations for Jacob Markstrom, who is ready to take over starting goaltending duties this year. The 27-year-old was a highly touted second-round pick by the Florida Panthers back in 2008 and shown some promise as a backup over the past two years. He played in 25 games last year as the backup to Ryan Miller and finished with a 2.63 GAA and a .910 save percentage. The Canucks also signed the Buffalo Sabres’ Anders Nilsson to a two-year deal this offseason, who could also cut into Markstrom’s playing time if he starts slowly. Nilsson, also 27, had similar numbers to Markstrom. In 26 games, Nilsson finished with a 2.67 GAA, but did have a stronger save percentage at .923.

In the same piece, Linden tells Willes that he believes that considering that a significant number of their players are under 25, they have the right coach in Travis Green. He emphasizes the franchise’s focus is on the youth and they believe Green is the perfect coach to complement those players. “Outside of wins and losses, that’s going to be the key. We have to understand we’re in a transitional period,” added Linden.

Don’t be surprised if the Tampa Bay Lightning attempt to flip their recently signed restricted free agents within the next year. At least that’s what the New York Post’s Larry Brooks believes will happen. He writes the long-term signings of Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat are likely going to be part of a package the Lightning will eventually make for New York Islanders’ John Tavares at some point next season if the Islanders can’t sign him.

While the Islanders have said they are not trading the veteran, there is growing concern that the 26-year-old is not happy with the franchise and might be ready to move on. The Islanders’ center is coming off a 28-goal season last year with 38 assists for 66 points. While the Islanders should get credit for doing everything they can to keep one of their stars after losing former star Kyle Okposo to Buffalo for nothing, Brooks believes they will be sellers near the trade deadline to avoid another major loss. He compares the situation to Tampa Bay’s worries about losing Steven Stamkos a year ago. In that situation, the Lightning were able to lock up their star to an eight-year deal, but this isn’t the same. The Lightning were a successful franchise and were loaded with talent. That’s not really the case with the Islanders. With stadium issues and a team that has struggled off and on, it wouldn’t be surprising if Tavares was looking at better options.

The undrafted Johnson has shown quite a bit of promise over the years although his numbers have dropped in the last couple of years. The 26-year-old center put up a 29-goal season two years ago, but finished this year with 19 goals and 26 assists in 66 games. Johnson’s seven-year, $35MM deal ($5MM AAV) could keep him in New York for a long time. Palat has quite a bit of similarities to Johnson as he is 26 as well and was not expected to be a top prospect as he was just a seventh-round pick in 2011. The left wing also started strong and has taken a step back from there, putting up 23 goals in his first full season with the Lightning. He still put up solid numbers last year, scoring 17 goals and 35 assists for 52 points. His five-year, $26.5MM deal is worth $5.3MM annually.

Although Tampa Bay might even have to offer more to get a player like Tavares, the deal would also work because both Johnson and Palat have no trade clauses that will kick in next July, so if the plan may be to package them for a star player, this next year will be their best opportunity to make a deal like that happen. On top of that, moving the two of them for Tavares could be a wash, salary-wise as the Islanders star could be asking for a contract in the $10MM range next year.

With Mika Zibanejad’s arbitration hearing scheduled just nine days from now, the real question is whether the New York Rangers plan on locking up their young center before that time. With the loss of center Derek Stepan and the lack of depth at the center position, the need for Zibanejad is even more evident and locking up the 24-year-old to a long-term deal would be important as his value should only increase if he goes through arbitration and accepts a one-year deal.

Zibanejad was the key piece to the trade that the Rangers received for trading veteran center Derick Brassard one year ago to Ottawa. The promising playmaker had two solid seasons with Ottawa before New York acquired the former 2011 sixth-overall pick. Had it not been for a broken leg, Zibanejad would have easily duplicated his performance this year in his first season for New York. He managed to play 56 games and score 14 goals and add 23 assists on the season.

Yet now, some key decision-making must be made by Rangers’ brass as to what to offer the young playmaker. The New York Posts’ Larry Brooks writes that the team should look to the recent contracts that the Tampa Bay Lightning handed out to Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat. Johnson just signed a seven-year deal that pays him $5MM annually and Palat was locked up to a five-year contract, worth $5.3MM per year. That’s a starting point. And according to Brooks, both Johnson and Palat are slightly more productive players. Palat has averaged .71 points per game, while Johnson .68 points per game. Zibanejad has averaged just .56 points per game in his career and has been less successful in playoff games as well. Therefore, Brooks suggests that he should be receiving somewhat less money than the Tampa Bay duo, perhaps at $4.8MM per season. The general belief is the Rangers may play it tough in negotiations with Zibanejad since he left respected Newport Sports Agency to use his half-brother to negotiate with.

The key to the negotiations will most likely come down to how many years they can get Zibanejad to sign for. The general belief is that he wants as short of a deal that he can get, because even an average season or two should produce an even better contract in a year or two. Toss in the possibility that with newly signed free agent Kevin Shattenkirk on board, the defense should contribute even more on offense and be more of a benefit to Zibanejad’s play. However, the Rangers will be far more interested in locking him up for five years. So how much more will New York have to offer him to get this deal done. Afterall, no Ranger has reached arbitration since 2007 when Sean Avery and Nikolai Zherdev.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and forward Tyler Johnsonhave agreed to a seven-year/$35MM deal. The cap hit is $5MM. Johnson had 45 points last season, 19 of those points being goals. It’s a $1.7MM AAV increase from the $3.3MM he was previously making. Johnson saw his increase thanks to his scoring prowess and clutch playoff performance.

Johnson emerged as a scoring threat during the 2014-15 playoffs when he lit up the Detroit Red Wings for six goals in the first round while finishing with 24 points (13-11) in 26 playoff games. His Conn Smythe caliber numbers turned a number of heads and made Johnson a bonafide star in Tampa. The following season, Johnson again had a dominant performance, being a point-per-game contributor in 17 playoff games.

Regular season success was strong for the 26-year-old forward who had 50 points (24-26) in his first full season during the 2013-14 year. A season later, Johnson had his career high of 72 points (29-43) and continued his torrid performance into the playoffs. Injuries since have limited his performance, and he dipped to 38 points (14-24) in 2015-16.

With the signing, the Lightning have approximately $8.88MM remaining via CapFriendly. This allows general manager Steve Yzerman to turn his attention to Ondrej Palat, who according to the Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith, is hoping to lock him up prior to an arbitration hearing. Smith quoted Johnson as saying he was “super excited” about the contract extension.

As the list of the players who have filed for arbitration was released earlier today by the NHLPA, a few names stick out as those due a meaningful raise. Arbitration is a tricky process to reliably predict, but it’s a safe bet these names will see their cap hit rise substantially.

There was a time when the young Dumoulin was a well-kept secret in the league, overshadowed by the far flashier play of Kris Letang. Dumoulin’s accolades this last playoff year certainly didn’t go unnoticed, and as the lone defensive defenseman in their core group, he probably holds the greatest job security on the team’s blueline. He doesn’t put up points – only one goal in the last two seasons, but he blocks shots and drives possession while eating a ton of minutes against top competition. As analytics are utilized more and more, his case only gets stronger. A contract well over $4 MM is certainly looking possible.

This is the name seen most commonly associated with offer-sheets this summer, and with good reason. Parayko plays with the mentality of an old-time defenseman, but he can skate quite well for a large (6’6) man. He’s only had two seasons in the NHL, but he’s impressed since he first took the ice. Again, he isn’t a massive offensive force (he scored 3 goals last season), but he’s already averaging over 21 minutes a night with near equal starts in both the offensive and defensive zone. He’ll be hurt by the quantifiable stats factor, but he’s a big body with a rare right-handed shot to boot. This contract could look relatively cheap compared to his next, if he continues along this course. He should cost around $5.5 MM.

Others will look to the undersized center Tyler Johnson as most likely to get a payday. But don’t over look Palat’s consistency – it may give him an edge with arbiters. Johnson does have his 72 point campaign to lean on, but that was now two full seasons ago. The fact that both players couldn’t break 20 goals in the last two seasons will bring their prices back down to Earth. Palat has grown into his role on the team and back-checks with a ferocity not often seen in younger stars. Johnson is no slouch either – they’ve both accumulated Selke votes over the years. These are two pivotal pieces of the Lightning, and their upcoming contracts were a big reason Jonathan Drouin was traded away to Montreal. GM Steve Yzerman will happily lock both up, but he will be hoping for figures under the $6 MM mark.

This would have been an unlikely name on such a list even last December, when you consider how truly meteoric Arvidsson’s rise was. His value in arbitration will be deeply interesting – the shifty winger has played himself into the core of the team within a season. He really only has 2016-17 and the long playoff run to hang his hat on, as he scored only 16 points through 56 games in 2015-16. This year was a remarkable offensive explosion, with 30 goals and 31 assists. At only 5’9, Arvidsson has really shocked many onlookers by how easily he’s adapted to the physicality of the NHL game. His talent has never been in question, and with his production now well-established, it’s safe to believe he’s going to get a cushy award. How bad the damage will be is going to affect Nashville’s cap going forward – I suspect over $5 MM, but there are few comparables.

Granlund is perhaps slightly more enticing league wide than fellow Wild RFA Nino Niederreiter. He’s a marginally more cerebral player, and he plays the valuable center position. Neiderreiter is the more natural goal-scorer and larger frame, but Granlund has better PPG and has broken 30 assists thrice. Both players will get paid, as they both broke 25 goals last season and will be important pieces in the State of Hockey for some time. I think the more interesting thing to watch here is whether the Wild play it safe with Granlund and take a one year deal, or attempt to lock him up for longer. This was the first season he really scored with any consistency, but the Wild have shown their faith in the player by continually giving him over 17 minutes of icetime even when he struggled to produce. A one-year would easily command over $5 MM, whereas a longer deal could bring cost down.

Kunitz is coming off a strong playoff performance for Pittsburgh. Most notably, he scored the double-overtime winner in Game 7 against Ottawa which propelled the team into the Finals. He’s always been a solid possession player – never posting a Corsit For below 51% since the stat was tracked in 2007-08. His productivity on the wings of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin placed him in the upper echelon of wingers in the league. Last season, the 37-year-old saw his first major decline in goal production during the regular season. He dropped to 9 tallies from the previous season’s 17, and noticeably looked a step slower. He became an expendable piece who moved up and down the lineup with the emergence of forwards Conor Sheary and Jake Guentzel.

Still able to provide leadership and a physical element, Kunitz will hope to prove that he belongs on a Tampa Bay team that is thin on the left wing. Tampa will look to lean upon his intangibles to catapult them back into playoff contention after a rough 2016-17 season. If he can regain some of his previous production, the deal will look all the better. His previously noted flexibility will come in handy in the case of injuries, and he has shown his ability to play effectively along top talent. It’s difficult to imagine him looking out of place slotting alongside Steven Stamkos or Tyler Johnson in a pinch. The biggest risk of course is with regards to his age, and whether he will continue to be as unproductive offensively as he was in the latter half of the season in Pittsburgh.

While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Expectations were high for the Lightning this season but not much went their way. Goaltending was expected to be a strength but Ben Bishop (before being dealt) and Andrei Vasilevskiy both struggled at times while they were dealt a crippling blow when Steven Stamkos tore his meniscus early on, ending his season after just 17 games. Tampa wound up missing the postseason and are now heading into what will likely be a summer of change for GM Steve Yzerman and company. Here are some key decisions that need to be made.

Rebuild The Blueline

Yzerman hasn’t hidden his desire to improve Tampa Bay’s back end. It was reported earlier that he and the Blues had pretty much agreed on a deal for Kevin Shattenkirk but it fell through when they weren’t able to agree on a contract extension. While that one didn’t work, it gives teams (and agents) around the league an idea of what they’re looking to do.

It wouldn’t be all that surprising to see them take another run at Shattenkirk in free agency. The market doesn’t have many players who can play a top pairing role and while they could certainly benefit from the second tiered players, it may not be the best use for the money they have to work with (more on that shortly).

The Lightning have a couple of youngsters who will likely make a strong push for a roster spot next season. Jake Dotchin spent time with Victor Hedman down the stretch and held his own while 2012 first rounder Slater Koekkoek will be waiver eligible next season. While those two will likely factor into the roster next year, there is still a need to add from outside the organization if the team intends on getting back into contention.

Shed Salary

Tampa has a little over $55MM committed in payroll for 2017-18 per CapFriendly and they only have 14 players under contract. They have several key players to re-sign but will have great difficulty getting them all signed without shedding a cumbersome contract or two.

Ryan Callahan dealt with hip trouble for most of the season and has three more years left on his deal with a pricey $5.8MM cap hit. He also has a full no-move clause which could come into play in expansion. The expectation is that he will be ready to go to start next season which takes out a long-term stashing on LTIR out of the question as well. Alex Killorn has six years left on his deal with an AAV of $4.45MM and while he has been a consistent middle six winger, they could decide to try to deal him and stick a cheaper forward in his place.

On the back end, the expiring contract of Jason Garrison ($4.6MM) is likely someone they will be looking to move. He isn’t the top four defender he was in his Vancouver days and is slowing down as he gets older. If they can’t move him (and they’d probably have to attach an asset to get a team to take him), a buyout may be an option as well. Braydon Coburn is another blueliner that isn’t living up to his deal but with two years left at $3.7MM per season, they’ll be in tough to find a taker. Yzerman will need to find a way to move one of these deals if he wants to keep his core restricted free agents in place.

Decisions For RFAs

The Lightning have no fewer than three prominent restricted free agents that are all in line for big raises. Jonathan Drouin had a career year with 53 points in 73 games which was good enough to rank him third in team scoring. A year removed from a midseason holdout and trade request, he has boosted not only his value to Tampa Bay but his trade value around the league. He earned just $832K last season before performance bonuses and will surpass that amount by a considerable margin. Will he be willing to take a bridge deal? That’s a key question and it’s plausible that the answer to that will determine whether or not they’ll be able to keep him for next season; if they opt to move him, they’ll have no shortage of suitors.

Tyler Johnson is a couple of years removed from his breakout 72 point season but is still a legitimate top six centre. The back loaded structure of his second deal results in him needing a $4MM qualifying offer, a fair bit higher than the $3.33MM cap hit he carried for the last three seasons. Ondrej Palat is coming off the identical contract as Johnson but his platform year was a bit more productive as he finished fourth in team scoring with 52 points. At 26, both are candidates for long-term deals but they could also opt to go to arbitration for one year contracts which would set them up for unrestricted free agency next summer.

There’s no doubt that Yzerman would like to go long-term with both but it’s unlikely they’ll be able to do so without losing a core player. It’s certainly shaping up like there will be some tough decisions upcoming this summer.

Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara will be in the final year of his contract next season but despite being 40, he suggested to Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun that retirement may not be on the horizon for a while yet. That said, he won’t go as far as putting a number on how long he would like to play until like pending Florida unrestricted free agent Jaromir Jagr did when he claimed he’d like to play until he’s 50.

Chara has been leaned on heavily this postseason with Boston being hit hard with the injury bug on the back end with Brandon Carlo, Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid, and Colin Miller all at least missing some time. As a result, he leads the team in ice time, averaging over 29 minutes per game.

Regardless of his future plans, the Bruins will get some cap relief on Chara’s contract for next season as his cap hit drops from just over $6.9MM to $4MM. This comes as a result of the rule that was instituted following the voided New Jersey deal to former winger Ilya Kovalchuk that made it that players over 40 will carry the same cap hit as their salary for that season. The rule was designed to help curtail heavily front-loaded deals with cheaper years tacked on at the end to artificially lower the cap hit and Boston will benefit from the drop in 2017-18.

Elsewhere in the East:

The Lightning have yet to really open up talks with pending restricted free agent forwards Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Drouin, reports Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times in a reader mailbag. He notes that both would be very intriguing trade chips if GM Steve Yzerman looks to make a deal for the top four defender they’ve been trying to acquire for a while now and that making a trade will be the most likely outcome. Smith also suggests that the Blues, Ducks, Predators, and Wild (ones that have several quality young and controllable options) may be teams that Tampa Bay targets in a move.

Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner is improving in his recovery from the upper body injury that has caused him to miss the last three games, head coach Barry Trotz told reporters today. Fellow rearguard Nate Schmidt has taken his place in the lineup and has fared relatively well which makes it a bit more difficult to figure out who should come out if Alzner is ready to return on Sunday night. Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post opines the Caps should consider dressing seven blueliners and have winger Brett Connolly sit instead. That would allow them to ease Alzner back in while Connolly has hardly seen the ice in the past two games, logging 4:26 and 6:12 in Games Four and Five respectively.

Boedker was signed to a four-year, $16MM deal on July 1st last summer, and hasn’t come close to living up to it at this point. His 26 points were the lowest total he’s registered since 2011-12 when he was just 22, and are almost exactly half of the 51 he recorded last season. He may be an early candidate for a buyout at some point, if he can’t return to the solid 40+ point player he looked like in Arizona. The Sharks have several raises to hand out to their young RFAs over the next few years, and may need an extra couple of million to fit them all in.

Evander Kane put up his best season offensively since 2011-12, and with it has regained some of his trade value according to Bill Hoppe of the Buffalo Hockey Beat. There were constant rumors last year about his availability, but now the Sabres could likely get a real asset in trade. That is, unless they want to extend the young power forward, as he has just one season left on his current deal. At just 25-years old, Kane will be talked about a lot this summer and next season should he stay in Buffalo. If they do hold on to him, he would likely be one of the top prizes at next year’s trade deadline, whether the Sabres are involved in a playoff hunt or not.

The Tampa Bay Lightning might be currently watching the playoffs rather than playing in them, but Steve Yzerman is already working on his offseason plans. The GM has said his top priority this season is to lock up three core restricted free agents in Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Drouin, which is expected to be quite a challenge, considering how up against the salary cap the Lightning are this offseason.

Tampa Bay Times writer Joe Smith suggests Yzerman might have trouble signing all three of them and acquire a top-four defenseman they desperately need and acquire a goaltender they need at the same time. That doesn’t include Victor Hedman’s $7.875MM extension that kicks in (and almost doubles) next year and the future contract they will have to negotiate with Nikita Kucherov in two years, which is likely to be huge.

Yzerman successfully helped Tampa Bay’s cap situation at the trade deadline when he moved the contracts of Ben Bishop ($4.76MM), Brian Boyle ($2MM) and Valtteri Filppula ($5MM). While all three were important to the Lightning, getting their cap numbers off their books only increased their chances of resigning the trio of young stars.

The scribe writes the Lightning should focus their efforts on resigning both Palat and Johnson who are integral to the team’s success and even went on to suggest that the team should consider trading the 22-year old Drouin, who enjoyed a breakout campaign this year. The thought being that Drouin may have the most trade value of the three and might net them a nice haul right before the 2017 NHL draft.

Smith also suggested other possibilities including looking to the Las Vegas Golden Knights, which has heavily scouted Tampa Bay in the last couple of months, as an option to move a player like Johnson as there is a potential replacement for him in rookie Brayden Point.

All said and done, Yzerman has his work cut out for him this offseason.

Other notes:

The New York Islanders, also sitting home during the playoffs, need to focus their attention on re-signing star player John Tavares. The belief is that the Islanders naming Doug Weight the permanent coach was critical to get the 26-year old star to return. Weight, who served as interim coach since January, produced a successful second half for the Islanders as he posted the second-best NHL record during that time. Unfortunately, they fell short of reaching the playoffs, but it is believed that Weight’s return will only help in Tavares opting to return. Tavares, who led the team with 28 goals and 38 assists for 66 points, is in line for a potential 8-year, $100MM extension this summer. A free agent defection would be crippling to the Islanders’ franchise.

The New York Rangers have recalled goaltender Magnus Hellberg for Game 3 of their playoff game with the Canadiens today. He will serve only as an emergency backup as the Hartford Wolf Pack just finished their regular season.